Is That The New Mercedes A-Class Sedan Rolling Down The Assembly Line?

Mercedes-Benz has confirmed it will unveil the new A-Class sedan at the Beijing Auto Show later this month. But the German automaker may already have released the first official photos of the four-door model. In some form, at least.

Mixed in with a slew of photos of the new A-Class hatchback are three images of what looks like it could be the new sedan rolling down the assembly line. They’re just body shells, far from complete. But they’re definitely not hatchbacks.

Now we should mention at this point the possibility that these body shells could be for a different model. The photos were taken at Daimler’s Kecskemét plant in Hungary, which also produces the CLA four-door coupe (as well as the CLA Shooting Brake and B-Class). But judging from the shape of the taillight cutouts, at least, it doesn’t look like any existing CLA we’ve seen so far. Not to our eyes, anyway. And they’re clearly labeled as belonging to the A-Class, which we’ve only seen in hatchback form thus far.

It would appear, then, that Mercedes slipped these into the photo stream – either by accident, or on purpose to see if we’re paying attention. Given that the compact luxury sedan is set to debut in just a week from now, neither would surprise us. But we’ll have to wait that extra week to see the finished product in full. Maybe less, if Daimler chooses to release its latest online before it’s unveiled in the metal. Either way, watch this space for more in the coming days.